SANANDAJ (IRNA) -- No armed group is allowed to use the Iraqi territory to launch anti-Iran operations, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in Sulaymaniyah Saturday night.

He made the remarks in a meeting with the visiting Governor of Iran's western province of Kurdestan, Esmaeil Najjar, who arrived in the Iraqi province Thursday to discuss ways to promote bilateral relations with Iraqi officials in Sulaymaniyah. ""Iraqi border guards are assigned to strongly confront any armed group that is to penetrate into Iranian soil from Iraq,"" Talabani stressed. He said Baghdad ""will not spare any efforts to help Iran confront terrorist groups and has the same expectation from Tehran as an old friend of Iraq. ""Given the current regional and international circumstances, Iraq believes any form of armed struggle is equal to terrorism,"" said the Iraqi president arguing, ""That is why Baghdad will not allow terrorists to use Iraqi soil as a base against its neighboring states."" Appreciating Iran's assistance to the people of Iraq during the darkest days of their history, Talabani reiterated Baghdad's interest in establishing cordial ties with Tehran, particularly in their joint border areas